through the mountains

We wanted to explore the mountains surrounding Queenstown, and do it in a way that was fitting.  Having made a trip to the grocery store for supplies the night before, we got up early on Saturday morning, loaded up our backpacks with food and water, and began our trek into the mountains.  We walked up the side of one mountain, down into the valley, and then along a river passing two lakes before finishing our journey on foot.  While that sounds pretty straight forward, it entailed going up the side of a mountain so dense with trees that it seemed like night underneath, followed by climbing through ice and snow before descending down into a valley not seeing another person for up to 6 hours at one time, and then walking along a barely noticeable path for endless miles as it wound through farmland surrounded by sheep and cows.  Completing this journey was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had.  We haven’t figured the total distance yet, but we ended up walking for about 10.5 hours, including some stops for food and photos.  The end of our trek left us on the side of a road about 6 miles from our hotel.   We decided to take our Concierge’s advice and try to hitch a ride back into town, so we stuck out our thumbs and started walking.  Within a few minutes, an awesome family of three picked us up and dropped us off safe and sound at our hotel, leaving us with a great breakfast idea for the next morning on our way through their hometown!